Boeing Company (BA)

[Porgie Tirebiter]

"I never play options"

Well, I certainly would never buy an option on the day it's going to expire. But these "0DTE" traders are kind of a brand new phenomenon. Five years ago, out of the money (OTM) options would have almost no value or trading volume the last few days of their existence. But now gamblers (and that's exactly what they are - gamblers) are playing in them big time.

There has even been some talk that the CBOE's volatility index (the VIX) might be becoming obsolete as it is calculated using S&P implied volatility of OTM options around 30 days out. I tool a quick look, and Boeing's first OTM put (the $200 expiring today) has traded at 422 times the volume of the same put expiring April 5th.
That's just nuts.

Writing OTM 0DTE options is like walking down the sidewalk and picking money up off the ground - It ain't a whole lot, but it's easy to make!